The need to separate vapors from gases is common to many industries, and is often among the most difficult separation processes. A common technique is absorption, wherein the vapor is absorbed by a liquid, resulting in the vapor being dissolved, condensed, or desublimated into the liquid. While this does result in gas/vapor separation, it adds an extra separation step, as the vapor now has to be removed from the liquid.
Another technique is to condense or desublimate the vapor onto a solid substrate in a fluidized bed or lift pipe. Fluidized beds and lift pipes are complicated and prone to operational issues.
Shot towers operate by the principle of dropping metal pellets down a tower while spraying the pellets with a molten liquid, the molten liquid building up the pellet to a larger size. While these are useful, they are not designed for vapor removal from a gas.
A process and device for desublimating a vapor out of a gas without these deficiencies is needed.
Brigham Young University Scholars Archive publication, “Cryogenic Carbon Capture using a Desublimating Spray Tower,” a thesis by Nielson, published under supervision of the Applicant, teaches cryogenic carbon capture utilizing a shot tower. The present disclosure differs from this prior art disclosure in that the prior art disclosure utilizes metal shot, cooled to cryogenic temperatures, to capture carbon dioxide by desublimation, not sub-cooled pellets of the same material as the vapor. Further, the prior art disclosure has no crushing or screening of the pellets, as the pellets are not of the same material as the vapor, and so recycle in this manner would not be effective. This prior art disclosure is pertinent and may benefit from the devices and methods disclosed herein and is hereby incorporated for reference in its entirety for all that it teaches.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,287,029, to Dowdell, teaches a method for making shot. The present disclosure differs from this prior art disclosure in that the prior art disclosure involves producing shot or powder from a liquid spray, not by desublimation of a vapor. This prior art disclosure is pertinent and may benefit from the devices and methods disclosed herein and is hereby incorporated for reference in its entirety for all that it teaches.